There Are Problems. And There Are Biological Problems

What's the difference between conduct disorder and biplor disorder? A recent NPR story by Alix Spiegel highlights that, even though these terms have been used by psychiatrists to refer to roughly the same behaviors, at least when describing children, the meanings of these two terms have profound impacts on how our social institutions respond. We blame parents for problems, but we accommodate, manage and treat medical problems.

Why replacing hormones seems different from replacing ankles

Readers of the New York Times received an odd juxtaposition over the last couple days that can be roughly summed up as: A small but growing number of older Americans will be headed to hospitals for ankle replacement surgery, and that's totally acceptable; at the same time, a small but growing number of middle-aged Americans is looking to ward off some of the effects of aging by